This is the moment chosen for the fifth fresco, and gives the artist
every scope for lively action and gay and brilliant colouring. Æneas,
standing between the King and his young bride, is still the most
prominent figure. The ladies of her train are grouped around the
Infanta, as the attendant maidens round Mary in many a version of the
"Sposalizio." Behind the Bishop stands a dignitary with a white cross on
his breast, who we identify from Pintoricchio's lately finished portrait
in the Baptistry, as Alberto Aringhieri, the Knight of Rhodes. The man
on the left, with heavily-draped mantle and looped-up hat, is Hans
Leubin, the King's Court poet, who had been appointed to deliver an
address of welcome, which he is represented as just beginning to recite.
Behind the group is set up, by a pardonable anachronism, the marble
column which was afterwards placed there as a memorial of the
meeting-place. On either side is a tall, stately plane-tree and a
fruit-bearing palm, typical of the bridal pair. The road winds up to the
Camollia gate, beyond which we espy the tall towers of the city, "Siena
of the rosy walls and rosy towers," the cathedral with its dome and
campanile, and the ground falling away into the ravine which lies
between it and San Domenico.
Whether Raphael's inspiration really was withdrawn at this period, or
whether Pintoricchio's own fancy flagged, it is undeniable that the
remaining frescoes show a falling off, and are less satisfactory than
the earlier ones. The next scene shows us "Æneas Silvius receiving the
Cardinal's hat." On the ride to Rome with the bridal pair, Frederick had
drawn rein as they came to the brow of the hill, from which they first
looked down on the valley of the Tiber, and said to Æneas, "Look now--we
go up to Rome; methinks I see thee a Cardinal, and in truth thy fortunes
will not tarry there, thou shalt climb yet higher; St. Peter's chair
awaits thee; look not down on me when thou shalt have reached that
pinnacle of honour." And though Æneas modestly disclaimed such a
prospect, he confessed afterwards how great were his efforts to enter
the Sacred College. His hopes were frustrated by the reigning Pope
Nicolas, who was notoriously unfriendly to him, and it was not till the
election of Alonso da Borgia as Calixtus II. that he saw his way to
further advancement. Calixtus, who was an old man and almost bedridden,
appointed, among others, his kinsman, Roderigo Borgia (after Alexander
VI.), as Cardinal. To this ambitious and intriguing man Æneas attached
himself, and bade farewell to Germany and his royal patron.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account